LATEST UPDATE – 3 APRIL 2020
Dear Parkerville Primary Community
I cannot thank-you enough for your response to the State Government’s request to keep your children at home if at all possible. Next week, we move to providing supervision for students who are the children of emergency and essential workers only. If you are at home, you cannot send your child to school. We are proud to form a part of the response to keeping our essential workers at work.
The state government has ordered the closure of all public playgrounds. The DOE had advised schools to cordon off playgrounds on school sites and cease allowing any students at school to use them. We will be following this directive and advise our community that the playgrounds will not be available out of school hours.
As you would be aware, teachers are experimenting with the delivery of curriculum and learning activities online. All teachers have attempted to make contact with every student in their class through their online platform. The feedback is crucial for us to ensure we get it as right as possible. It is going to be difficult to meet every need and we are currently developing contingency plans for possible scenarios. Each teacher will have touched base to do a crucial technology audit so that we can best meet the needs of all of our students. I will also be making contact with as many families as I can next week to work through any issues you may be experiencing.
Please be aware that teachers will respond to your messages within reasonable time limits. Most will be available until 4.00pm in the afternoon on school days and I have asked them, in the interests of their health and wellbeing, to leave late night and early morning messages until the next working day.
Some issues we are aware of:
Internet access is dodgy and or nil– teachers are planning packs for Term 2, if we are not back at school, for you to do at home. I will advise when they are available through SZAPP for those with little to no internet, otherwise the teachers will let you know when they are available to pick up from outside their classrooms. They are developed for Term 2 and not meant to be implemented this term.
Too much or too little work: the teachers are experimenting with their delivery at the moment. We have feedback from both ends of the spectrum in regards to complexity and time. Please do not stress – get done what you can and engage your children as you see fit. In term 2 we will be sending a structured timetable and activities so you can manage it day to day. Keeping your child connected to learning and a routine and structure will, of course, make things easier when we return to normal. If you need extra work to keep your children engaged, there are plenty of sites online offering activities and learning and some of the teachers may have already made suggestions for you.
Term 2
We have been advised to plan for a possible closure of schools for Term 2. I will be keeping our community as informed as possible around this contingency and, rest assured, the school is planning for a number of different scenarios so that we can continue to deliver distance learning if we have to.
It is absolutely crucial that you take the two week break as per normal school holidays. There is no expectation that students would be completing any activities during this time. Take the time to relax, enjoy family time and recharge.
If you have any issues, please do not hesitate to contact me at school or via email.
Regards,
Carolyn Nunn
Principal